IBEROSTAR Playa Gaviotas Park

A lovely hotel where the staff couldn't have been more helpful. The this was amazing and the rooms were spacious, modern, very clean and comfortable. A brilliant hotel and one of the best we've started in. To balance it out, the only downsides which were outside the control of the hotel: the wind! It was so windy that hand the holiday we couldn't use umbrellas. With nothing to do nearby, the pool and beach are the main draw but with no umbrellas you either bake or hide under a towel. The pools also were cold so come the wind, the kids who love the pool for 6 hours a day, couldn't go in for longer than 10 minutes a day. That left very little to do in the day. The sand was blasting on the beach too so we resorted to having to pay to use the spa (€15 each) which worked out expensive for 2 hours of poll time! Also one more thing for the girl to consider was that the adult crafts were easy more fun than the kids ones. Mine really wanted to make glass jewellery, candles and fans but they weren't allowed as they were adult only. I would have paid and supervised them but sadly no. All in all, a great a hotel but there's not much to do nearby, or when it's windy.... Which is quite often. Our busy trip was cancelled because of the wind so take plenty of books and entertainment for the children.

If you have children aged from 3 to early teens and what you want is to spend your time at the pool or a sandy beach, with activities for youngsters and adults and plenty of high standard buffet food, then this all-inclusive hotel is a great find. You can also count on very friendly staff, drinks available 24/7, and a purified water dispenser near your room.

We were in that position for the first week here with our small grandsons and their parents. We were then here for a second week as just two adults. Our plan for that second week was to alternate days at the pool with days exploring Fuerteventura in our rental car. Our conclusion: if you want an interesting Canary island to explore pick Gran Canaria for its super capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; or Lanzarote for its fascinating art and architecture linked to Cesar Manrique and for its volcano. Fuerteventura, however, really does not, from what we saw of it, have anything to offer beyond the pool/beach experience. The capital is pretty nothingy, and Betancuria is a long drive for a tiny village worth a 30 minute exploration. The nearby cheese museum in Antigua is also good for 30 minutes.

So…..more about the hotel. Well-provisioned: there always sunbeds with parasols available, if not in your first choice of location; and restaurant tables were also always available. The hotel was refurbished a couple of years ago. The rooms are very tastefully done in a light wood-look veneered MDF. We had a suite which gave us a lounge with a sofa, a second tv and a dining table with four chairs. There were also a proper fridge, microwave and kettle. No crockery, no teas or coffees, so bring what you anticipate wanting to have in your room. The strange design fault: no lock on the bathroom door.

The family suite was similar but with two little beds in place of the dining table and chairs.

We do have three essentials for a hotel room: quiet at night; a good shower; and a comfortable bed. For our room 5125, we had quiet at night albeit a little late on pool party night. Also an excellent walk-in shower with plenty of hot water. The comfortable bed, however, was a “fail” for the first four nights - mattresses presumably from the refurbishment which lacked the quality to stand up to hotel use - rock hard, sunken in the middle and we could feel the springs. After four nights and discussing the beds with Reception daily, management trainee Juan managed to persuade the head of housekeeping to give us brand new mattresses (an improved design with a built-in mini-topper). Not as soft as we would have chosen for our own home but a good night’s sleep nevertheless.

Pools: a baby pool, very shallow, tiny slide; a small pool set apart slightly; a dome pool with a fountain coming out of the dome, designed for children to climb and slide down; and a larger pool where one can swim at 10.00 when it opens and before it later gets very crowded. Aquagym and afternoon games happen here.

Our only negative about the pool area is security. The gates to the footpath down to the beach remain open all day and a thief could easily wander in. People naturally leave some belongings, often including a phone, at their sunbeds while swimming.

Activities

You could participate a lot if you wanted, adults and children from 4 years up.

Adult activities pop up around the pool at various times, as shown on the app which you can activate at check in. Examples: table-tennis; a micro-version of shuffleboard; darts….aquagym was good fun. There are also evening activities - we were there during the World Cup so matches were shown in the bar or the theatre which took the place of some activities.

Our almost four year old grandson enjoyed the games in the pool, running along the surface mat and jumping in, inflatable “assault course” etc. He took part in the treasure hunt (with me) but mostly we were there for family fun together without him disappearing to a kids club.

The meals.

The only one with which we found not as much to our taste was breakfast. Lots of items including all the cereals were sweet or fried or both. There were cheeses and breads and some fruit. Also eggs and a station making omelettes. There was porridge but it was often cold. There were yoghurts but often only flavoured ones. There were plain oat flakes enabling us to make muesli by adding seeds and some dried fruit which the hotel put out and adding nuts which we bought at the supermarket.

Lunch in the restaurant and dinner were similar to each other. Hot dishes which changed daily. Always a grill area with a chef cooking fish or meat to order. Salads. Fruit. Cheeses. Pizza. Paella. Pasta. Ice cream. Various small puds. We sometimes found the hot vegetables not to our taste but grilled fish with a variety of salads went down a treat. Dinner was themed each evening, lending some variety. Excellent sushi one night of the week. Whole salmon baked in salt another night, for example. There were drinks: water sparkling or still; sweet fizzy drinks; beer; wine; and coffee. House drinks were on tap in the restaurant but if you fancied something different, e.g. 0% beer or a particular wine, you could get that at the main bar and carry it across into the restaurant.

Some drinks were also available 24/7 from various places - at night a drinks station near the Reception. During the day, at the pool bar/restaurant there was a wide self-service drinks facility with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Lunch was available here if you wanted but much more limited than in the restaurant, mostly pizza/pasta plus salads and bread items. Lunch started earlier here than in the restaurant so for us that worked very well, letting the 16 month old eat his lunch at the pool bar then nod off in his buggy for a nap, sleeping next to our table in the main restaurant.

Do note, this is a family hotel so the restaurant gets very noisy. The staff are super, cheerfully dealing with spillages and working so hard to clear the tables. But it is bustling and you have to watch your step carrying your food from the buffet to your table.

In summary, travelling with children and wanting pool and beach, excellent choice of hotel; travelling as just adults and wanting pool and beach, you may want to consider one of the other two Iberostar hotels in the same development because this one is heavily geared to children; travelling with or without children and wanting to mix up pool/beach with exploring the island, pick a different island.